


if you'll let me, here's what i'll do

by pixies



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Domestic, Fluff, M/M, No Plot/Plotless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-11
Updated: 2014-06-11
Packaged: 2018-02-04 05:38:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1767487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixies/pseuds/pixies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry’s cough settles down after a few more moments, and he sags back against the bathroom counter. “Lou,” he starts, but his voice is croaky, rasping, and he pauses to try to clear his throat, wincing as he does so.</p><p>or: Harry's sick and Louis takes care of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	if you'll let me, here's what i'll do

**Author's Note:**

> why do i have such a thing for domesticity/looking after each other fluff i don't even.  
> title's from take care by drake & rihanna  
> thanks to nicole and shar-bear for looking it over! + also thanks to kiwi for making me do sprints so i'd finish this you're the best

They go straight to the hotel after the Edinburgh gig, not bothering with showers at the venue since they don’t have a bus night and can take advantage of the luxury of real showers at hotels. 

Louis unlocks the room and holds the door open for Harry to shuffle through; his eyes are glassy again and his cheeks are flushed, and Louis knows that his fever is probably back. 

“C’mon, love,” Louis murmurs, shutting and locking the door behind himself. He throws the chain, too, so that no one else who has a copy of their key can get in, and nods his head toward the bathroom. “Let’s get you in the shower, yeah?”

Harry groans and looks longingly at the bed, but after a second he nods and shuffles into the bathroom. He’d been so energetic tonight, dancing and interacting with the crowd even though he couldn’t sing, but Louis can tell that that energy is gone now, drained from him. Harry looks exhausted.

He starts stripping while Louis gets the water going, adjusting it to the temperature Harry likes- just a tad too hot for Louis’ liking, and he knows it’ll turn Harry’s skin splotchy and red- before turning back to Harry. Harry’s still got his jeans on and is fumbling with his belt, and before he can get any further he breaks out in a coughing fit, raising his arm so he can cough into his elbow. 

“Babe,” Louis is at his side instantly, rubbing at his back while he coughs. He reaches up to graze Harry’s forehead with the back of his other hand, and yikes. His fever is back and then some, even worse than it was this morning. 

Harry’s cough settles down after a few more moments, and Harry sags back against the bathroom counter. “Lou,” he starts, but his voice is raspy, and he pauses to try to clear his throat, wincing as he does so. 

Louis shushes him and then sets about getting Harry’s belt undone for him. The air in the bathroom is starting to get thick with the steam from the shower, the mirrors fogging up, and Louis hopes the steam will help clear up Harry’s congestion a little. 

Harry groans once Louis’ got his pants pushed down and is prompting him to step out of them, leading him to the shower. “C’mon, you’ll feel better after,” Louis says, helping to guide Harry’s tired body under the spray.

He goes to pull away and close the shower, but Harry stops him with a hand on his wrist and wide, pleading eyes. 

“No, love, you go on and clean up. I’m gonna go find some throat coat and some medicine for you, okay?”

He leaves Harry in the shower like that- reluctantly, but he does it- and grabs a room key, slipping out into the hall to go find Paul.

Paul’s got the throat coat and Harry’s prescriptions, from the doctor they’d brought in to see him earlier in the day (Harry’s bum has got a little bandage on it from the B-12 injection she’d given him as well), and he holds them out to Louis before he’s even got the door open all the way. Louis accepts them with a grateful smile and Paul nods, covering the bottom of his phone to ask Louis quietly- “How’s he feeling?”

“Worse, since the show,” Louis answers honestly. He holds the bag up. “Hoping all this is gonna help, though. What time do we have to be up in the morning?”

“I’ve bumped everything back a few hours,” Paul whispers. “Figured we could all use a good lie-in, since everyone’s a bit under the weather. Wake up calls are coming around 11.”

Louis nods and makes to turn back down the hall, but Paul follows him out of the door. “Hey, Lou,” he says quietly. “Make sure you’re taking care of yourself, too, okay? I don’t want any of the rest of you getting as bad off as Hazza is.”

Louis nods again and thanks Paul, heading back to their room. When he gets inside, the shower is still running; he drops the key and the bag of meds on the nightstand and makes his way to the bathroom, a bit concerned. Usually, when Harry’s feeling bad, he wants to get into a bed as soon as possible. Louis has seen him take minute and a half showers in order to get into bed faster, and now he’s worried that Harry’s fallen asleep in the shower- or worse, slipped and hurt himself. 

He pushes open the bathroom door and steps inside, breathing out a relieved sigh when he sees Harry is, indeed, still standing. Well, sort of standing. He’s propped up against the shower wall under the shower head, and he’s got the shower head turned so the water is streaming straight down on him. 

“Hazza, babe,” Louis says softly, and Harry starts. “What’re you doing?”

“Sorry,” Harry croaks. “‘M sorry, I just-”

Louis eyes the hotel issued shampoo and body wash in the corner of the tub, sitting unopened and unused. “Hey, no, it’s okay,” he says, and starts to strip off. “You’re tired, love.”

He climbs into the shower and pulls Harry out from under the spray so that he can adjust the shower head before getting to work. He does Harry’s hair first, angling him under the spray to rinse the shampoo and then the conditioner out from the strands -- it’s a testament to how poorly Harry is feeling that he doesn’t make a joke about Louis having to go up on his tip toes to do so -- before grabbing a washcloth and soaping up Harry’s body quickly.  
He props Harry up in the corner of the shower, wishing that they were back in one of the hotels they visited in Spain, where the tub itself was large enough for someone to sit comfortably on the edges of it, before he sets about washing himself as quickly as he can. 

“All done?” Harry rasps when Louis shuts the water off. Louis climbs out of the shower first, wrapping a towel around his hips and knotting it loosely before grabbing one for Harry and helping him out as well. 

“Stop talking,” Louis chastises gently. “Yeah, we’re done, c’mon.”

Harry’s wet hair is long and hanging in his face, and Louis grabs another towel, giving his own hair a quick rub before handing it to Harry to use head as they leave the bathroom. 

He sits Harry on the edge of the bed and hands him some briefs before turning to the tiny little coffee pot sitting on the desk, running through a pot of just water so he can make Harry some throat coat; while that’s brewing, he grabs the Vick’s he’s had stashed in his bag and turns back to the bed.

“No,” Harry croaks when he sees the tiny tub in Louis’ hand. “Smells.”

“I know, but it’ll help clear you up some, yeah? Ease up the cough so you can sleep.”

Harry frowns but nods, and Louis can’t get over how much he looks like a disgruntled little kitten -- a sad, wet, disgruntled little kitten. 

“Hey, you got your pants on!” Louis notices, and Harry raises his hand in a futile attempt at a fist pump. Louis hands him the jar of Vick’s and leans down to kiss his forehead, laughing a little bit at Harry’s expression when he sees it. 

Harry accepts it begrudgingly and unscrews the top, dipping his fingers in and rubbing the ointment on his chest. Louis comes back a minute later, switching out the Vick’s for a mug of throat coat, and Harry scoots back into the bed, wrapping his fingers around the mug as he does so. 

“This sucks,” he says after a sip, leaning his head back against the headboard and taking a deep breath. He has to do so from his mouth, his nose too congested to breathe through. 

Louis is rifling through the bag from the pharmacy, setting out the doses of his antibiotic and decongestant and then pouring a teaspoonful of the cough medicine in the dosing cup. He grabs one of the AirBornes that Paul had distributed amongst them all when the cold start going around and takes it quickly, remembering his earlier promise to Paul to try to not get too sick himself. He doesn’t know if its too late for the AirBorne to work, but the extra dose of vitamins and shit certainly can’t hurt, right?

“I know, babe,” Louis agrees, and walks back over to the bed. He hands Harry the pills and then the cough medicine once he’s swallowed those, and accepts the dosing cup and the now empty mug that Harry gives him. “That cough medicine’s got codeine in it, Paul said, so it’ll help with how it hurts when you cough. You’ll probably sleep better, they said it can cause drowsiness and stuff.”

“Good,” Harry says. His eyes are closed and he coughs pitifully. “Slept like crap the last couple of nights.”

Louis runs a hand through Harry’s hair, rubbing at his scalp with his fingertips. “Hopefully it’ll be better tonight, yeah?” He murmurs. “Bright side is we get a lie-in tomorrow.”

“Reaaally?” Harry asks, eyes hopeful. He shifts so he can push the covers down and slide his legs under them, sinking down a little lower into the bed until his head is resting on a pillow. “Thank God.”

“I know right,” Louis responds. He runs through a mental checklist as Harry gets himself comfy- shower, Vick’s, tea, meds- and when he doesn’t come up with anything he missed, he gets up from the edge of the mattress to go and get ready for bed himself. 

He drops his towel over at his suitcase, laying on the other bed, and hears Harry make a pitiful groan. 

“Alright, Haz?” Louis asks as he pulls his pants up his legs. He gets himself situated and raises his eyes to meet Harry’s. When he looks at him, Harry’s got an arm reaching out towards him, his other arm bent and pushed beneath the pillow under Harry’s head, propping him up a bit. 

“You’re so fit,” is his response, hoarse and tired, and Louis can’t stop the laughter that bubbles up.

“Always the charmer, aren’t you, Styles?” Louis responds, winking at Harry. He picks his towel up off the floor to give his hair a good dry before padding over to the bathroom and flipping the light off. He does the same with the bedroom lights, clicking the last lamp off as he climbs into bed. 

He turns on his side immediately, facing away from Harry, knowing that Harry’s gonna want to be the big spoon- he’s not sure why, but it’s more comforting sometimes for Harry to wrap someone (Louis) up in his arms than to be the one wrapped up. Sure enough, Harry’s spooned up behind him in a matter of seconds, knees pressing into his bent ones and arm around his middle. Louis can feel the heat radiating from him, hot against his back, and interlaces his fingers with Harry’s on his stomach. 

“Oh, wait!” He says suddenly, sliding out from under the covers and flipping on the bedside lamp. 

Harry’s looking up at him from the bed, blinking at him blearily. It looks like maybe the Cheratussin has already started to kick in, with the way he looks like he’s having to fight to keep his eyes open. Good. His boy needs some rest. “What’sit?”

“Forgot your Advil,” Louis responds, already rummaging through his bag for the bottle. “For your fever.”

Harry coughs in response, but when Louis turns back to the bed, pills and water bottle in tow, he’s looking up at him fondly. “What would I do without you, Lou,” he wonders out loud, accepting the medicine from Louis. “You sure you weren’t a nurse in a past life?”

“Shush, you,” is Louis’ response, putting the water bottle on the nightstand when Harry hands it back to him. He turns off the lamp and settles back into bed, reaching behind him to grab Harry’s arm and pull it around him. “Besides. You take care of me, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> WOW such cheese much fluff
> 
>  
> 
> follow me on tumblr @ tomlinbuns!


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